UNITED NATIONS,
November 15 – A week after UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres accepted a golden
statue from Cameroon's 35-year
president Paul Biya in Biya's
palace in Yaounde, there were
threats of prosecution against
people who refuse to celebrate
Biya's 35 years in power.
Photo of letter here.
So is this was Guterres
celebrates, under the Guterres
Doctrine? What is the
relation to the illegal lumber
exports signed off on by
Guterres' Deputy, Amina J.
Mohammed in the #RosewoodRacket?
This involves
"smuggling
from
Cameroon." See
EIA video, here. There
were threats to Inner City
Press' accreditation at the
UN, here.
On November 15, Inner City
Press asked Guterres' deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript
here:
Inner City Press: since
the Secretary-General's going
to give this speech on… on
countering terrorism while
it's en… you know, holding up
values, tonight, Cameroonian
journalist Ahmed Abba is going
to get an award… the
International Press Freedom
Award, not in person because
he's been sentenced to ten
years in jail for reporting on
the conflict in
Cameroon. He's been
convicted under antiterrorism
laws. So, it made me
wonder, when the
Secretary-General visited, met
with President of Cameroon,
Paul Biya, who's largely
responsible for this
prosecution and imprisonment
of a journalist, was this
issue raised? And… and does it
fall within the ambit of the
Secretary-General's views of
proper use or improper use of
terrorism laws, in this case,
to imprison a journalist?
Deputy Spokesman: "The
Secretary-General has made it
clear that any measures that
are counter-terrorist measures
should not be used to restrict
the enjoyment of human rights
in any aspect, including
freedom of expression and
freedom of the media.
And that would be the case
here, as well." But did
Guterres raise it? Will he?
Meanwhile in the South West
Region, there is a curfew and
demand to register and give
"weapons" to the government.
On November 13, Inner City
Press asked UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: over the
weekend, in Cameroon, in both
the northwest and southwest,
there was a collection
apparently in light of not
only armaments, rifles and
handguns, but even hoes and
cutlasses, it said, basically
a total disarmament and… and…
impinging on even farming work
by people. And I'm
wondering, given that François
Fall is… calls for a dialogue,
what… is the UN aware of
this? There are written
orders online that you can see
telling people to turn all of
these things in…
Spokesman: "I have
nothing on these reports as of
now." Nor six hours
later. On November 9,
Inner City Press asked UN
official Najat Rochdi, who was
the head of the UN system in
Cameroon until earlier this
year and is now its deputy in
the Central African Republic
where Guterres just visited
before Cameroon, if Guterres
had spoken to her at all about
Cameroon. No, she said, he had
wanted to optimize his time.
Video here.
So apparently Guterres gets
his information, and gold
statues, from Paul Biya, or
from Khassim Diagne, who was
part of Rochdi's system. It
is closed loop, and a
total failure. On November 8,
Inner City Press asked
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric (drawing a response
of sorts, that "The
Anglophones have been doing
some shooting today"), UN
transcript
here: Inner City Press:
on Cameroon, I know that there
was a call by François
[Lounceny] Fall and, I guess,
the Secretary-General for
dialogue with the “Anglophone
regions”. It's reported
in the press in Yaoundé that
the Government has sought
international arrest warrants
for 15 Anglophone leaders, and
I'm wondering if that would be
viewed as consistent with this
call for dialogue and, if not,
if the UN has anything to say
about it. Spokesman
Dujarric: I don't have
any information on those
arrest warrants. We,
obviously, continue to call
for calm and reiterate the
availability of the UN to
support the search for a
lasting solution in the
Anglophone provinces.
And we call on the… also on
the authorities to ensure
maximum restraint by security
forces. Evelyn? Evelyn
Leopold: Yes. I think
the Anglophones did some
shooting today." Video here;
Leopold is retired from
Reuters, still demands first
questions at UN press
conferences "on behalf of the
United Nations Correspondents
Association," wihch will
charge money for an event with
Antonio Guterres in
mid-December - we will have
more on this. On November 7
Inner City Press asked
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Duajrric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
ask you two questions about
Cameroon. One is, since
the Secretary-General's visit,
one, there's a… there are
reports of a crackdown in a
place called Jakiri, where one
gendarme was killed, and now
basically everyone is being
told there will be collective
punishment unless a gun is
turned over. And I
wanted to know, is Mr.
[François Louncény] Fall… who…
after the visit, who's keeping
track of it? Also,
bigger picture maybe, the… the
Cross River State Governor in
Nigeria, Ben Ayade, has said
that the border has
essentially been closed for
people fleeing the Cameroon…
the anglophone region of
Cameroon, and I wanted to know
whether that's something that
either Mr. Fall or on the… you
know, UNHCR is aware of.
Spokesman: UNHCR, you
can check with them. I
will… I don't have anything
on… more on Cameroon. Inner
City Press: if Mr. Fall was
there on the trip… he wasn't
in the photograph with
the…Spokesman: He was
there. We already said
he was there. Inner City
Press: All right. So
what was the… was any plan
reached for continued work…?
Spokesman: If there's a
further visit that he's able
to make, we will announce it."
Nothing. On November 6,
Inner City Press asked
Guterres' deputy spokesman
Farhan Haq, UN transcript here: Inner
City Press:has to do with
Cameroon, where the
Secretary-General stopped, met
President [Paul] Biya.
Today, they're celebrating the
thirty-fifth anniversary of
his accession to power.
And a letter's emerged that
orders all Government
employees to participate in
the ceremony marking the
thirty-fifth year in power of
Paul Biya, saying, basically,
names should be provided, and
they will be punished for
not. Given… I guess I'm
just wondering, is the Sec…
was the Secretary-General,
when he stopped, when he took
this golden statue, what did…
was he aware of this?
What does he think of… is it…
is it permissible, from the
UN's point of view, for a
Government to order its civil
servants to mark the
thirty-fifth year in power of
a leader or face punishment,
or should this be
discouraged? And does he
have any comment on it? Deputy
Spokesman: Obviously,
people everywhere have the
right to freedom of movement,
freedom of expression, freedom
of assembly. Those
freedoms need to be respected
in all circumstances.
Regarding the gift, Stéphane
[Dujarric] made very clear to
you that's a standard protocol
gift — which happens in many
different countries and
contexts." The UN delivered a
threat
to Inner City Press to
“review” it accreditation on
October 20, using as its
pretext an undefined violation
with Periscope in UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres' 38th
floor conference room, and
publishing audio from a UN
stakeout, citing Cameroon. On
October 31 at the UN Security
Council stakeout, Cameroon's
Ambassador approached Inner
City Press and issued his own
threat. Of the UN's 38th
floor, he demanded of Inner
City Press, "Who asked you to
go to 38? I'm going to call,
say for Matthew not to go
upstairs. You've started...
asking nasty questions." On
November 2, Inner City Press
asked Guterres' spokesman
Stephane Dujarric about it,
video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: a statement
made by Cameroon's Permanent
Representative to me at the
Security Council stakeout, in
a public area, saying, on 38,
"Who asked you to be up
there? I'm going to make
a call to make sure Matthew is
not up there anymore.
You ask nasty
questions." So my
question to you is, if a
Member State, in this case a
Member State that is subject
to questions, nasty or not,
were to call the 38th floor
and say, I want a particular
media to not be up there, why
are [they] up there — what
would be the response from the
38th floor? I ask
because I've gotten an
accreditation threat for being
up there. That's why
it’s strange… Spokesman:
Well, I think you're mixing…
you know, if an event is open
to the press, to the wider
press, then everybody is
welcome. We are not…
journalists here have to do
their job. There are
obviously restrictions placed,
depending on the event, but I
guess the answer would be
no. Thank you." This
from the UN Spokesman who
threw Inner City Press out of
the UN Press Briefing and then
from its office, keeping it
still restricted. This is
today's UN. But can Inner City
Press publish this threat,
meant to hinder or prevent
coverage of mass killing and
displacement of Anglophones,
without the UN's Department of
Public Information's
censorship machinery moving to
review its accreditation, or
using it as its rationale for
continuing to keep Inner City
Press from its long time
office, keep it restricted in
movement? DPI boss Alison
Smale said she saw the need to
respond to petitions to
restore Inner City Press to
its office and normal access -
then her Department issued its
October 20 threat. Now this.
Watch this site - audio here.
Be aware: the audio is from
Smale's own DPI. This UN has
become disgusting. The
UN official who signed the letter,
when Inner City Press went to
ask about the undefined
violation of live-streaming
Periscope video at a photo op
by UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres, had already
left, minutes after sending
the threat. What to make of
the letter's vague statement,
"filming and recording on the
38th floor are limited to
official photo opportunities,
and recording conversations of
others in the room is not
permitted. It has been brought
to our attention that you
breached that rule recently"?
It's not only vague as to
when, but absurd: once a
Periscope is authorized to
start streaming, it is
impossible to not record
someone who speaks loudly at
the photo op. This comes two
days after Inner City Press asked Guterres about the
UN inaction on threatened
genocide in Cameroon, and the
UN claimed
Guterres hadn't heard the
15-second long question.
Recently at a photo op,
Guterres' adviser on Cameroon
Khassim Diagne spoke loudly.
Inner City Press later reported,
based on sourcing, that Diagne
who was previously the
representative to Cameroon for
UNHCR,
the UN refugee agency Guterres
ran, speaks in favor of
Cameroon's government. Is this
letter a response to the
reporting? Is it retaliation?
Is it intimidation to stop
reporting on this threatened
genocide? We can't ask the
complainant, Maher Nasser:
after the threat was
delivered, he blocked Inner
City Pres on Twitter, here.

It also
comes after Alison Smale the
head of the Department of
Public Information which would
“review” Inner City Press'
accreditation has ignored threeseparatepetitions
from Inner City Press in the
six weeks she has been in the
job, urging her to remove
restrictions on Inner City
Press' reporting which hinder
its coverage of the UN's
performance in such crises as
Yemen,
Kenya,
Myanmar,
and the Central African
Republic where Guterres
travels next week, with
Smale's DPI saying its
coverage of the trip will be a
test of its public relations
ability. But the UN official
who triggered the complaint is
Maher Nasser, who filled in
for Smale before she arrived.

His complaint is that audio of
what he said to Inner City
Press as it staked out the
elevators in the UN lobby
openly recording, as it has
for example
with Cameroon's Ambassador
Tommo Monthe, here,
was similarly published.

A UN “Public Information”
official is complaining about
an article, and abusing his
position to threaten to review
Inner City Press'
accreditation. The UN has
previously been called
out for targeting Inner
City Press, and for having no
rules or due process.
But the UN is entirely
UNaccountable, impunity on
censorship as, bigger picture,
on the cholera it brought to
Haiti. And, it seems, Antonio
Guterres has not reformed or
reversed anything. This threat
is from an official involved
in the last round of
retaliation who told Inner
City Press on Twitter to be
less "negative" about the UN -
amid inaction on the mass
killing in Cameroon - and who
allowed pro-UN hecking of
Inner City Press' questions
about the cholera the UN
brought to Haiti and the Ng
Lap Seng /John Ashe UN bribery
scandal which resulted in six
guilty verdicts. We'll have
more on this.

***

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